Know Thy Weakness
by Kasigi Omi
Summary: A trip to the zoo reveals Shishi's secret fear.... which is naturally used against him! Slight SuzuShishi hintings.


Disclaimer: Characters belong to Togashi-sama. I'm just playing with them

Dedication: This story was inspired by a story written by my pal Dai-sama, on here known as X O X O Conventionalize Me X O X O. I hope you like it.

**Know Thy Weakness**

It had been Jin's idea to visit the zoo, enthusiastically taken up by Rinku, Chuu and Suzuki. Shishi had snorted disdainfully, but still came along once Touya had organized the whole excursion.

And the Ice Master had chosen a perfect day for it- it was sunny, but not terribly hot. A cool breeze remained more or less constant, and even more constant around Touya, thanks to Jin. They had already seen the lions, the seals, and examined the botanical gardens. Chuu had been rebuffed by several female guests- most with small children- and a female zookeeper. Suzuki had shooed a few young girls out with their families away from Shishi, who seemed bemused by the whole thing.

The little troupe was passing a large domed building when Rinku cried out. "It's the reptile house! I want to go in and see the snakes!"

Only Suzuki, who was almost constantly gazing at Shishi, saw the fine tremor run through his friend.

But no one voiced an opinion contrary to Rinku's, and the group started to file into the building. Pausing at the threshold, Suzuki glanced back and realized Shishi had only moved to turn his back on the building, arms crossed ever his chest.

"You coming?" he inquired of the samurai.

"No thank you. It will be hot, crowded and full of nasty ningen children…" He turned slightly, grinned at Suzuki nastily with a mouth full of sharp teeth, "That I can't eat."

"You're vegetarian."

"That's why I can't eat them, isn't it?" Shishi snipped, turning away from Suzuki again.

The former clown chuckled to himself, careful not to let Shishi hear him, and stepped back down to stand beside Shishi.

"Are you not going in?" the samurai asked archly, a mix of curiosity and worry that Suzuki could see his secret.

"Nah. I'll just… stay here with you," he replied, giving him a bright grin. "You're probably right. It will be hot and crowded and Rinku and Chuu will make asses of themselves." He slanted his eyes sideways at Shishi and said in a conspiratory tone, "I don't like reptiles anyway."

Shishi responded with a faint, sheepish grin.

They stood in easy companionship, sometimes silent, sometimes cracking jokes at the expense of their friends or the fashion of the ningens passing before them, for about fifteen or twenty minutes before a breathless Rinku appeared between them. "The snakes were so cool!" he enthused, eyes bright. "They were feeding the cobra when we got in there and I got to see it!"

Shishi's lips curled in a sneer. "Fantastic."

Rinku didn't question the expression or the fact that the two had stayed aloof, outside. It was just how they were.

The others joined them and off they went. In the insect house, Suzuki kept close to Shishi, offering him a shaky grin. The cat house enthralled Jin, who exclaimed over all of the kitties, proclaiming he wanted each and every one. Shishi was too busy making soft, doting noises in his throat to even harass him about it. Finally Touya suggested ice cream, which finally sparked Chuu's interest- or perhaps it was the pretty girl that served them. Ice cream in hand, or low fat frozen yogurt in Suzuki's case, they headed home.

Other than the usual outbursts of temper or drunkenness, things were quiet for the next several days, until Rinku found a snake in the yard.

"Well, hey there," he said softly, crouching down to get a better look at the little green snake. It ignored him, and with a quick movement he picked it up. The poor creature coiled quickly around his hand in surprise and uttered a startled little hiss, but soon realized it was in no danger and settled in well enough.

Stroking its smooth skin, Rinku wondered what to do with it. He considered keeping it as a pet- but then he heard the sound of Shishi's voice berating Chuu over something and he remembered his own scolding that morning for leaving milk out. A wicked grin crossed his face as he glanced up at Shishi's bedroom window.

The high, shrill scream rang out throughout the house that evening, followed by the sound of frantic footsteps bolting down the hall. Suzuki barely had time to sit up in bed before his door was flung open and Shishi all but flew up onto his bed, landing in the middle- just missing Suzuki, curled his knees to his chest and shook with terror.

"Shishi? What is it?" Suzuki asked, sincerely concerned. He had never seen Shishi this terrified. Ever.

The samurai turned large, frightened eyes on his friend. "There's a…a…" His voice dropped to a whisper, as if too afraid to even speak of it aloud, "Snake!"

"A snake."

"In my room!"

"How did it get there?"

Shishi shrugged….and then they both heard the laughter.

"Rinku," Suzuki muttered, voice flat. Amazingly, Shishi was so shaken up he didn't even run off to slaughter the boy as Suzuki would have expected. He just whimpered and leaned into Suzuki for protection.

Blinking in surprise, Suzuki more than happily wrapped his arms around Shishi and held the traumatized samurai as he trembled. "Look, Shishi, it will be okay. I'll go get it and take it back outside, okay?"

"I thought you didn't like reptiles," the samurai sniffled, politely wiping his nose against Suzuki's shirt.

"I just said that so you wouldn't feel so…" he searched for a word, then decided on the most obvious- the little bastard had just used his beautiful clothing as a tissue! "Pathetic."

Apparently Shishi still had enough fight in him to respond with a nasty bite.

Once the bleeding and retaliatory wrestling had stopped- with Suzuki straddling the prone form of his smaller, but furious friend- they returned to the issue.

"Suzuki, it can't stay in my room."

"And why not?"

A wicked, but still somewhat frightened glint entered Shishi's eyes. "Because then I would have to move into your room, and you'd never have any peace."

_He'd do it, too,_ Suzuki realized with a frown. "Fine, fine. I'll go get the snake!" Slipping off of Shishi, who proceeded to make himself comfortable on Suzuki's bed, clearly settling in for the night, Suzuki headed down the hallway to Shishi's room.

Upon reaching Shishi's room, Suzuki rooted through the bookshelf, pushing aside books of Japanese poetry, books about samurai, and the Playboys Shishi assumed no one knew he had. The desk was full of love notes and addresses, as well as some more sedate correspondence from Shishi's family. His closet, also devoid of sneaky little snakes, was full of rumpled clothing Shishi was too lazy to either wash or hang up. The snake was, instead, under the bed, and didn't resist when Suzuki slid it out with a hanger and tossed it out the window. Apparently it wasn't too pleased to be in Shishi's room either, not that Suzuki could blame it.

He half expected Shishi to be asleep by the time he returned, but the samurai surprised him. He was sitting up in the bed, waiting. "Is it gone?"

"Yes, it's gone," Suzuki assured him, running his hand through his hair and crossing the room to slip back into his bed. "It's safe for you to go back to your own room now, and no, I won't tell anyone you're afraid of snakes." He paused, smirked. "Of course, your shrill shriek probably gave that away."

Shishi hit him with a pillow.

"For that, I'm staying here tonight."

Knowing better than to argue if he wanted any sleep at all, Suzuki shrugged and settled in. Shishi lay back down, back turned to Suzuki, one arm under the pillow his head was resting on. With a smile, Suzuki fell asleep with his fingers tangled adoringly in Shishi's long hair.

The next day, Rinku was just barely saved from a painful death by Chuu, Jin and Touya, when Shishi decided to get his revenge. Naturally, Chuu then felt the need to protect his 'little buddy' from the crazy bird, and once again Suzuki found himself with a roommate because Shishi didn't trust Chuu not to try something while he was sleeping. This time, Suzuki spooned up against Shishi's back. Shishi did not protest.

The next day Shishi announced his intention to move into Suzuki's room, using his own for storage.

Suzuki told him that was fine, and while Shishi was busy making tea, he snuck into the samurai's room and removed the plastic snake he had placed on the pillow. He could always use it to bring Shishi back to his bed if they had a fight.

He had to admit, sometimes it was useful to know the weaknesses of your friends, as well as of your enemies.


End file.
